Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-11-09

I needed no further sign to make me posi-
tive that he had no previous knowledge
of the card, and that it was the first time
he had seen it."
Something of horror, you say"
';It was my impression, and I cannot
account for it. Not so with his bewilder-
ment and astonishment. To my mind they
are easily explained"
''He asked no questions concerning the
card9' remarked DR.. Daincourt.
''He asked no questions" said the law
yer, somewhat irritably, concerning Q
hundred matters upon which the wit
nesses should have been hardly pressed
Can you not see that this accentuates my
conviction that the nine of hearts is a link
in the chain?"
':Yes, supposing you had not already
arrived at a false conclusion with resptcs
to poor Layton's knowledge of the posses
sion of the card"
IT will stake my life and reputation" :"
said the lawyer, earnestly, ''upon the cor
rectness of my conclusion. Twill stake
my life and reputation that, until that
moment, Edward Layton did not know
that the card was in his pocket"
sssThen somebody. must have placed it
thefe.
GAS you say, somebody must have
placed it there"
"But in the name of all that is reason
able" exclaimed DR.. Daincourt, ''what
possible connection can you trace between
playing card, whether it be the ace of
clubs or the king of spades, or the nine Of
hearts-it matters not which-what poss-
ible connection can you find between any
playing card and the awful charge brought
against Layton?"
"That," said the lawyer, drumming
upon the table with his fingers, lis what
have to discover. You do not know,
doctor, upon what slight threads the most
important issues hang"
II think I do" said DR.. Daincourt,
with smile.
IT do not refer to the general issues Of
human life," said the lawyer, in eXplana-
ton; II refer to legal matters, especially
to criminal cases the solution of which
rests upon circumstantial evidence. Cir
cumstances the most remote, and appar-
emily absolutely worthless and trivial,
have been woven by a legal mind into q
strand strong and firm enough to drag a
prisoner out of the very jaws of DEATH"
"And this nine of hearts is one of those
slender threads?" said DR.. Daincourt, in q
tone of incredulous inquiry.
every likely. You may depend I shall
not lose sight of it.'
"You spoke of two Inks" said DR..
Daincourt, land you have shown me that
which you believe to be q tangible one.
What is the link which you say is shadowy
and less dependable?"
'I will explain. The jury were dis
charged, being unable to agree upon their
verdict. 1t may leak out through the
press by and by-pretty much everything
does leak out through the press nowadays
but it is not known at present to the
public how many of the jury were for pro-
nouncing the prisoner guilty and how
many for pronouncing him innocent"
~ have heard rumors," said DR.. Dain-
court.
'I," said the lawyer, shave positive
information. Eleven of them declared
him guilty, only one held out that he was
innocent. Arguments, persuasions, logi-
cal differences and deductions, the crecapitu-
lation Of the evidence against him-all
were of no avail in this one juryman's
eyes. lie would not be convinced; he
would not yield. He had made up his
mind that the prisoner was innocent, and
that he, at least, would not be instru-
mental in sending him from the dock q
eelon."
II can see nothing in that" said DR..
Oaincourt.
"There are," continued the lawyer, 'in
civil and criminal records, instances of q
I like nature, some of which have been
privately sifted, with strange results,
after the cases have been finally settled.
I recollect one case which may bear upon
this of Layton's. I do not say it does,
but it may 1t occurred many years
ago, and the jury were locked up
q barbarous length of time without
being able to come to an agree
ment There was no possible doubt, cir
cumstantially, of the prisoners guilt; the
evidence was conclusive enough to convict
twenty men. One person, however, would
not give in, and that person was on the
jury. The prisoner was tried again and
unhesitatingly acquitted. During the
time that had elapsed between the first
and second trials additional evidence was
found which proved the prisoner to be in
nocent. The juryman who held out on
the first trial happened to have been some
years before friend of the prisoner, q
tact, of course, which was not known
when the jury was empanelled. After
the result of the second trial he publicly
declared that he had been guided by his
feelings and not by the evidence"
"And you think that something of the
sort may have happened in this case?"
"Had you been on the jury, what
would have been your verdictF'
"Guilty."
"IIa1 I been on the jury, what would
have been my verdict? Despite my firm
conviction that Layton is an innocent
man, should have brought him in guilty.
It was not my opinion had to be guided
by, it was the evidence; and the evidence
in Layton's case, as it was presented to
the court and appears in the papers, indis-
putably proclaims him to be guilty man.
Again, when the verdict was pronounced
I watched his face; again I saw there a
startled look of wonder and astonishmcnt;
to his own mind the evidence against him
was conclusive. Then it was that OBJ
served him for the first time gaze upon
the jury with some kind of interest and
attention. Not once during the trial had
he looked ut them in any but q casual
way, and 1 should not be surprised to
learn that he was ignorant of their
names. This is most unusual. Ordin-
arily prisoner pays great attention to
the jury upon whose verdict his fate
hangs. He gazes upon them with deep
est anxiety, he notes every change in their
countenanc IS, is despondent when he be-
lieves it to be against him, is hopeful
when he believes it to be in his favor. Not
so with Layton. When the jury were en-
panclled, and their names called over,
he paid not the slightest attention to
them; he did not turn his eyes toward
them; he might have been both deaf and
blind for all the interest he evinced."
''PcrhapS you are not AWARE said the
doctor, ''that he is very short sighted, and
that without his glasses it would have
been impossible for him to distinguish
their features"
81 am quite aware of it," said the law
yer; "but he had his glasses hanging
round his neck, and it is remarkable that
not once during the trial did he put them
to his eyes. have here" said the lawyer
tapping his pocketbook, IA list of the
names, social standing, and businesses
and professions of the jurymen engaged OH
this Layton mystery. AS regards only
one of them is my information inconl-
plctc. I know their ages, whether they
arc married or single, whether they have
families, etc. I know something mOrc-1
know the name of the one man who would
not subscribe to the verdict of guilty which
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